The present disclosure generally relates to the field of announcement signaling on board an aircraft. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method of signaling speech signal related text messages on board an aircraft, to a computer program product for carrying out such a method, an apparatus for signaling speech signal related text messages on board an aircraft, and to an aircraft comprising such an apparatus.
Several announcements are usually made on board of aircraft by aircraft personnel, e.g., flight attendants or pilots. For example, such announcements are made before or after take-off and landing. In general, two different types of announcements exist on board of aircraft, the first being pre-recorded announcements and the second being live announcements. Pre-recorded announcements are sometimes called Pre-Recorded Announcements and Music (PRAM) and live announcements are often called Passenger Address (PA) announcements. Both of these announcements are usually announced or advertised to passengers by a so-called Chime A chime is a certain tone or jingle indicating that an announcement is going to be made. Further, during an announcement, a message is usually displayed on passenger displays of an In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system. For example, such a message reads “announcement in progress” or the like.
However, for deaf or hearing-impaired passengers it is difficult if not impossible to follow such announcements. Further, passengers might be distracted and might not listen carefully to the announcement made.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved technique for signaling announcements to passengers on board an aircraft.